Accession Number:

ADA621042

Title:

Sun-Burned: Space Weather's Impact On U.S. National Security

Descriptive Note:

Thesis

Corporate Author:

AIR UNIV MAXWELL AFB AL SCHOOL OF ADVANCED AIR AND SPACE STUDIES

Personal Author(s):

• Stebbins, Bradley J.

Report Date:

2013-06-01

Pagination or Media Count:

83.0

Abstract:

The projected period of heightened solar activity in 2013 presents an opportune occasion to examine the ever-increasing vulnerability of US national security and its Department of Defense to space weather. This vulnerability exists for three principal reasons 1 a massive US space-based infrastructure 2 an almost exclusive reliance on an aging and stressed continental US power grid and 3 a direct dependence upon a US economy adapted to the conveniences of space and uninterrupted power.

Descriptors:

• *NATIONAL SECURITY
• *SOLAR ACTIVITY
• INFRASTRUCTURE
• SOLAR CYCLE
• SPACECRAFT

Subject Categories:

• Astrophysics
• Atmospheric Physics
• Electric Power Production and Distribution
• Electricity and Magnetism
• Unmanned Spacecraft

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE